How to Conjugate the Irregular French Verbs Être, Avoir, Aller, and Faire

In French and in English, the verbs être (to be), avoir (to have), aller (to go), and faire (to do) are probably the most used verbs of our repertoire, which is also why they have become so twisted. Like your favorite sneakers, the more you use them, the more worn out and deformed they become! But you can’t do without them.

The four tables that follow give you the present tense conjugations of these verbs.

je suis

nous sommes

tu es

vous êtes

il/elle/on est

ils/elles sont

j’ai

nous avons

tu as

vous avez

il/elle/on a

ils/elles ont

For pronounciation, be very careful with ils sont (they are)and ils ont (they have),because they have pretty similar sounds. The difference is between the soft sound of ils sont and the z sound created by the liaison (the verbal link between the final -s and the following vowel) in ils ont.